Psalms 137:1-4

Psalm 137 ¹ 

137:1 By the rivers of Babylon

we sit down and weep ² 

when we remember Zion.

137:2 On the poplars in her midst

we hang our harps,

137:3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs; ³ 

those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: ⁴ 

“Sing for us a song about Zion!” ⁵ 

137:4 How can we sing a song to the Lord

in a foreign land?

Ecclesiastes 3:4

3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Isaiah 21:4

21:4 My heart palpitates, ⁶ 

I shake in fear; ⁷ 

the twilight I desired

has brought me terror.

Isaiah 22:12

22:12 At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning,

for shaved heads and sackcloth. ⁸ 

Isaiah 24:7-9

24:7 The new wine dries up,

the vines shrivel up,

all those who like to celebrate ⁹  groan.

24:8 The happy sound ¹⁰  of the tambourines stops,

the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt,

the happy sound of the harp ceases.

24:9 They no longer sing and drink wine; ¹¹ 

the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.

Lamentations 5:15

5:15 Our hearts no longer have any joy; ¹² 

our dancing is turned to mourning.

Daniel 6:18

6:18 Then the king departed to his palace. But he spent the night without eating, and no diversions ¹³  were brought to him. He was unable to sleep. ¹⁴ 

[137:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 137. The Babylonian exiles lament their condition, vow to remain loyal to Jerusalem, and appeal to God for revenge on their enemies.

[137:1]  ² tn Heb “there we sit down, also we weep.”

[137:3]  ³ tn Heb “ask us [for] the words of a song.”

[137:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “our [?] joy.” The derivation and meaning of the Hebrew phrase תוֹלָלֵינוּ (tolalenu, “our [?]”) are uncertain. A derivation from תָּלַל (talal, “to mock”) fits contextually, but this root occurs only in the Hiphil stem. For a discussion of various proposals, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 236.

[137:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “from a song of Zion.” Most modern translations read, “one of the songs of Zion,” taking the preposition מִן (min, “from”) as partitive and “song” as collective. The present translation assumes the mem (ם) is enclitic, being misunderstood later as the prefixed preposition.

[21:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “wanders,” perhaps here, “is confused.”

[21:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “shuddering terrifies me.”

[22:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “for baldness and the wearing of sackcloth.” See the note at 15:2.

[24:7]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “all the joyful in heart,” but the context specifies the context as parties and drinking bouts.

[24:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the joy” (again later in this verse).

[24:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “with a song they do not drink wine.”

[5:15]  ¹² tn Heb “the joy of our heart has ceased.”

[6:18]  ¹³ tn The meaning of Aramaic דַּחֲוָה (dakhavah) is a crux interpretum. Suggestions include “music,” “dancing girls,” “concubines,” “table,” “food” – all of which are uncertain. The translation employed here, suggested by earlier scholars, is deliberately vague. A number of recent English versions follow a similar approach with “entertainment” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On this word see further, HALOT 1849-50 s.v.; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 37.

[6:18]  ¹⁴ tn Aram “his sleep fled from him.”